Cap visor construction



Aug. 7, 1962 H. LEV

CAP VISOR CONSTRUCTION Filed March 23. 1959 lllkll United States PatentOfilice 3,047,880 Patented Aug. 7, 1952 3,047,830 CAP VISOR CONSTRUCTEQNHarry Lev, 49% Marine Drive, Chicago, Ill. Filed Mar. 23, 1959, er. No.801,074 3 Claims. ((Il. 2-20ii) This invention relates to a uniform capand more particularly to the construction of the visor for a uniformcap.

In the past, the visors of certain types of uniform caps have beenconstructed of a heavy paper material with a coating of lacquer,generally black, to give the desired color and sheen. The lacquercoating presents several problems in a uniform cap which is required toretain its trim appearance often under adverse conditions of use andweather. If the visor is forced out of its normal slightly curvedconfiguration, as by squeezing inwardly at the sides or by flatteningit, the lacquered coating often ripples or cracks. The lacquered coatingbecomes quite brittle in extremely cold weather and is extremelysusceptible to checkering and bad cracking.

It is a principal object of this invention to provide a new and improvedvisor construction for a uniform cap, the visor retaining its appearanceeven under conditions of rough handling and inclement weather.

One feature of the invention is the provision in a uniform cap having ahead band of a visor including a base sheet secured along one edge ofthe front portion of the ead band and a cover sheet of plastic materialsecured over the base sheet. Another feature is that the base sheet isstitched along one edge to the band and the cover sheet is stitchedaround the edge of the base sheet with the center portion of the coversheet free to move relative to the base sheet.

A further feature is that the base sheet is of a cellulose wood pulpmaterial, and preferably the visor has an edge in its longer dimensionsecured to the front portion of the head band with the shorter dimensionprojecting forwardly and downwardly therefrom and the grain of the woodpulp base sheet is generally parallel with the shorter dimension of thevisor.

Further features and advantages of the invention will readily beapparent from the following specification and from the drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a uniform cap embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view thereof;

FIGURE 3 is a section taken generally along line 33 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is an exploded view of the base and cover sheets of a visorembodying the invention.

Uniform caps are worn not only by members of the armed services but bymany others who are forced to spend a great deal of time in adverse andinclement weather and under circumstances which result in roughtreatment of the cap. For example, policemen, firemen, mailmen, doormen,service station attendants, band members and the like may be out ofdoors in all types of weather. Chauffeurs, cab drivers, bus drivers,street car conductors and airline pilots, who wear such caps, are oftengoing between heated vehicles and the outdoors many times a day. Thecombination of rough handling to which the caps are subjected, togetherwith frequent and severe temperature changes ruins the desired dressyappearance of lacquered visors of the uniform caps.

A preferred embodiment of the novel visor construction will be describedin detail in connection with the drawings in which a uniform cap isillustrated. The cap has a head band 11 with a visor 12 secured theretoand extending around the forward portion of the cap.

A cap cover 13 surmounts head band 11 and is supported by a suitablestructure, not shown. A decorative strap 14 encircles the forwardportion of the head band and is secured to the cap by decorative orinsignia bearing side buttons 15, there being one on each side of thecap.

The major or greater dimension of visor 12 extends around and is securedto the forward portion of the cap while its shorter dimension projectsforwardly and downwardly therefrom. As best seen in FIGURE 3, the visor12 is made up of two parts, a base sheet 17 and cover sheet 18.

Base and cover sheets 17 and 18 are stitched to the lower edge of headband 11 as indicated at 20, the stitching also extending through theupturned flap of sweat band 21. A binder strip 22 is applied to theforward edges of the visor sheets and stitched thereto as indicated at23, this stitching securing the edges of the two sheets together. Baseand cover sheets 17 and 18 are not secured together in theirintermediate confronting areas, but are free to move relative to eachother. Thus, when the visor is deformed, either by squeezing or byflattening, the base sheet 17 and the cover sheet 18 flex independentlyand the stresses set up in one are not transmitted to the other.

Base sheet 17 is preferably of a high alpha cellulose wood pulp materialwhich is impregnated with an oil resistant and perspiration resistantsynthetic binder. Such material is sold under the trade name Texon. Fora uniform cap visor it is preferable that the base sheet have athickness of the order of 0.050" to 0.090 and a density providing aweight of the order of 1.4 pounds per square yard. A rosin processedbase material is preferable as the rosin adds stiffness to the visor.

Cover sheet 18 of the visor is a flexible vinyl plastic sheeting havinga thickness of the order of 0.0025 to 0.005. Preferably, the plasticcover sheet 18 is heated and molded to shape before it is secured to thebase sheet and to the cap frame. Accordingly, it does not have adistorting effect on the shape of the cap in its normal condition.

The principal deforming pressures or forces to which a visor issubjected are applied in a direction generally parallel with the greaterdimension of the visor. As illus trated in FIGURE 4, the base sheet 17is so cut that the grain, indicated by lines 22, is at right angles tothe major dimension of the visor and parallel with the minor dimension.The deformation resulting from squeezing or flattening of the visor hasa tendency to stretch or compress the base sheet generally at rightangles to the grain thereof; and the base sheet bends uniformly withoutwrinkling.

The two-piece visor construction in which the pieces or sheets aresecured only around their periphery results in a stronger and more rigidvisor construction in which stresses in one of the sheets are nottransmitted to the other sheet. As a result, any disfiguration of thebase sheet is not visible and does not impair the trim appearance of thecover sheet 18. The cover sheet itself, preferably of a vinyl plasticmaterial, can withstand rough handling and severe temperature changes,as from 35 to 40 below zero to well over the normal hottest temperaturewhich might be encountered, all without damage.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention, itis to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changestherefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a uniform cap having a head band, a visor comprising: a base sheetof high alpha cellulose wood pulp material secured along one edge to thefront portion of spa'ageso said head band; and a cover sheet of plasticmaterial of the same size and shape as said base sheet over said basesheet and secured thereto around the periphery thereof, the centralportion of said cover sheet being free to move and flex independently ofsaid base sheet.

2. The visor construction of claim 1, wherein said base sheet containsan oil and perspiration resistant resin im pregnant.

3. In a uniform cap having a head band, a visor comprising: a base sheetof cellulose Wood pulp fibrous material With the fibers of said materialoriented to provide a grain, the sheet having an edge in its longerdimension secured to the front portion of said head band with theshorter dimension of the base sheet projecting forwardly and downwardlytherefrom and the grain of said sheet being generally parallel with saidshorter dimension; and

a cover sheet of plastic material of the same size and shape as saidbase sheet secured over said base sheet.

References (lifted in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS361,717 Postman Apr. 26, 1887 662,282 Mattes Nov. 20, 1900 935,903Frantz Oct. 5, 1909 1,012,988 Crane Dec. 26, 1911 1,057,825 Hale Apr. 1,1913 2,616,092 Berg Nov. 4, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 2,051 Great BritainSept. 19, 1907 130,269 Great Britain July 31, 1919 175,999 Great BritainFeb. 24, 1921

